Will new ‘Queen’ of talk recapture ‘Oprah’ magic in S.A.?

A new entertainment queen is coming to daytime TV that many are calling the next “Oprah” – and KSAT will carry her in San Antonio.

In fact “queen” is even part of her name: Queen Latifah, star of stage, screen and television. “The Queen Latifah Show” will bow on KSAT Sept. 16 in the important slot of 3 p.m. as a potentially strong lead-in for the station’s 4 p.m. local news with Ursula Pari.

Katie Couric’s show, which now occupies that hour and hasn’t exactly taken the audience by storm here, will move to 2 p.m. also on Sept. 16.

Steve Harvey will be history on KSAT after his last broadcast Sept. 13.

KSAT, naturally is hoping that some of that old “Oprah” magic will be recaptured, and effectively challenge Ellen DeGeneres on KENS at 3 p.m. “We have high hopes for her show,” station spokesman David Cuccio said of Latifah. “I think she’ll be fantastic.”

The bigger-than-life star, known as “La” to her friends — such as the show’s executive producer Jada Pinkett-Smith — certainly provided some fantastic entertainment when we met with her in Hollywood earlier this month.

Her grand entrance included a fun takeoff on “When You’re Good to Mama” from the movie “Chicago.” The spoofy song urged us TV critics to give her show good reviews.

So, does Latifah see herself as the next “Oprah”? “There is no such thing,” she purred. “Oprah is Oprah, and she’s still being Oprah in case anyone hadn’t noticed. Obviously there are great things she accomplished and I’d love to be able to accomplish some of those things, but I think what I bring to television is me. I’m Queen Latifah. I’ve had a different life story and a different path that I’ve traveled. We’ve crossed paths, of course, because I’ve been a fan of the show as well. One of the cool things that Oprah did was take people on a journey with her, so I’m hoping that we can, as we get to know our audience, we’ll get to take them on a journey with us and I’ll get to go on a journey with them and we’ll kind of grow together.

“I really think there’s a space in daytime television for a whole bunch of fun, some amazing music, but really some heart. I think she was able to tap into that when the Oprah show was on. I would love to tap into the heart of us, because I feel like it’s kind of missing. You don’t need me to do negative stuff, tear people down, rip people apart, that is not who I am, but I am here to encourage people, to help build people up, I need that same kind of thing.”

Why throw her hat into the talk ring now?

“The one thing that defines my career, if anything, is variety. I’ve done so many things, and thankfully the audience has allowed me to take this journey. They’ve come along with me from rapping to acting on sitcoms to films,” Latifah said, “so this is an obvious next step in my career. I get to have fun. I get to entertain. I get to bring all the amazing stories from people that have inspired me throughout the years, the people who do great things everyday that maybe you don’t know about, but should be celebrated as much as the celebrities that come on this show.”